KARGIL GIRL (Hindi Edition)

In 1994, twenty-year-old Gunjan Saxena boarded a train to Mysore to participate in the fourth Short Service Commission (for women) pilot course. After seventy-four weeks of grueling training, she graduated from the Air Force Academy in Dindigul as Pilot Officer Gunjan Saxena. On May 3, 1999, local shepherds reported Pakistani incursions into Kargil. By mid-May, thousands of Indian soldiers were engaged in mountain warfare to drive out the intruders. The Indian Air Force launched Operation Safed Sagar, in which all its pilots were deployed. While women pilots had not yet been deployed in combat, they were deployed to rescue the wounded, drop supplies, and conduct reconnaissance. This was a golden opportunity for Gunjan Saxena to prove her mettle. From airdropping vital supplies in the Dras and Batalik sectors and rescuing the wounded from the midst of battle, to meticulously relaying information about enemy positions to her superiors, and even narrowly escaping a Pakistani rocket missile during one of her sorties, Saxena fearlessly performed her duties, earning her the nicknamethe Kargil Girl. Gunjan Saxenas inspiring book is a story of womens strength, capabilities, and remarkable will to live.